Determining the neurons and neuromodulatory pathways underlying the prefrontal control of visual signals

确定视觉信号前额叶控制背后的神经元和神经调节途径

• 批准号: 1439221
• 负责人: Behrad Noudoost
• 金额: $ 43.6万
• 依托单位: Montana State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2017-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1439221&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Determining; neurons; neuromodulatory; pathways; underlying

Attention is the means by which we focus on behaviorally relevant information, to select and enhance a subset of sensory information for further processing while ignoring the rest. Several decades of research have implicated the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the control of attention. Previous studies have showed that the manipulation of DA-mediated activity within the frontal eye field (FEF) part of PFC enhances the strength of signals in visual areas, raising the hypothesis that prefrontal control of attention is mediated by the actions of DA within the FEF. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Noudoost and colleagues will pair electrophysiological recordings with local pharmacological manipulation of neural activity to reveal the neural mechanisms underlying DA's contribution to attention. One set of experiments will determine the functional characteristics of prefrontal neurons involved in the control of attention and visual signals. Using an improved technique, the prefrontal neurons projecting to visual areas will be identified, the content of their outgoing signal will be characterized, and the impact of this signal on representations in visual areas will be determined. A second set of experiments will use local pharmacological manipulations to directly examine the sufficiency of FEF DA to produce the perceptual and neural enhancements due to attention. Collectively, the proposed experiments aim to determine the neurons, neuromodulators, and interactions between prefrontal and visual cortices that underlie the flexible allocation of neural resources according to task demands; such an understanding will provide insight into how changes in these processes underlie the attentional deficits seen in mental illnesses, potentially indicating new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.An imbalance in PFC dopamine (DA) has long been a suspect in the etiology of attentional impairments in mental illnesses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dopaminergic drugs have played a central role in the treatment of these attentional impairments. A better understanding of the basic neural mechanisms underlying these processes will ultimately help develop diagnostics and treatments improving the well-being of affected individuals. Part of this proposal involves hardware development in collaboration with Neuralynx Company, which is located near the lab and is one of the foremost companies in data acquisition and signal processing industry, thus fostering a partnership between industry and academia for developing new tools and enabling new experimental techniques. Through the support of the National Science Foundation, three female scientists will be trained by the PI in cutting-edge neurophysiological research techniques and data analysis. They will also have the opportunity to publish their research in top tier academic journals, and present their research to colleagues at national and international conferences. The PI and colleagues will also present the results of this research in public presentations at the university, and widely advertised to the entire undergraduate population, thereby raising public awareness of and appreciation for scientific research. Attention is critical for learning, and thus a better understanding of the mechanisms of attention can also guide educational professionals toward more effective pedagogic approaches.

注意力是我们专注于行为相关信息的手段，选择和增强感官信息的子集以进行进一步处理，而忽略其余部分。几十年的研究表明，前额叶皮层（PFC）与注意力的控制有关。以往的研究表明，DA介导的活动内的额叶眼场（FEF）的一部分PFC的操纵增强了视觉区域的信号强度，提高了注意力的前额叶控制的假设，即DA的行动内的FEF。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Noudoost博士及其同事将把电生理记录与神经活动的局部药理学操作配对，以揭示DA对注意力贡献的神经机制。其中一组实验将确定参与控制注意力和视觉信号的前额叶神经元的功能特征。使用一种改进的技术，前额叶神经元投射到视觉区将被识别，其传出信号的内容将被表征，并确定该信号对视觉区表征的影响。第二组实验将使用局部药理学操作来直接检查FEF DA是否足以产生由于注意力引起的感知和神经增强。总的来说，所提出的实验旨在确定神经元，神经调质，以及前额叶和视觉皮层之间的相互作用，这些相互作用是根据任务需求灵活分配神经资源的基础;这样的理解将提供深入了解这些过程中的变化是如何成为精神疾病中注意力缺陷的基础的，潜在地指示新的诊断和治疗方法。PFC多巴胺（DA）的不平衡长期以来一直被怀疑是精神疾病如注意缺陷多动障碍，多巴胺能药物在这些注意力障碍的治疗中发挥了重要作用。更好地了解这些过程背后的基本神经机制将最终有助于开发诊断和治疗方法，改善受影响个体的健康。该提案的一部分涉及与Neuralynx公司合作进行硬件开发，该公司位于实验室附近，是数据采集和信号处理行业最重要的公司之一，从而促进了工业界和学术界之间的合作伙伴关系，以开发新工具并实现新的实验技术。通过国家科学基金会的支持，PI将对三名女科学家进行尖端神经生理学研究技术和数据分析方面的培训。他们还将有机会在顶级学术期刊上发表他们的研究，并在国家和国际会议上向同事展示他们的研究。PI及其同事还将在大学的公开演讲中介绍这项研究的结果，并向整个本科生群体广泛宣传，从而提高公众对科学研究的认识和欣赏。 注意力对学习至关重要，因此更好地理解注意力的机制也可以指导教育专业人员采取更有效的教学方法。